# Closed Captioning

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning/219963>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 19, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning/219963 "2003-12-19T14:13:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![mherbold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f4b2a3/32.png) [@mherbold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mherbold)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning/219963/41 "2003-12-30T16:37:56Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by chorpler \*  
> \*\*The TV’s closed caption decoding circuitry is only used for displaying the captions on the screen. The video signal coming into the DVD recorder should still carry the closed captioning data on line 21, regardless of the connection type. If you hook up a VCR via the coaxial cable input, or the S-Video input, or the composite line in, it will still record the closed captioning signal. It seems a shame that DVD recorders won’t. \*\*

Coax, S-Video, and Composite inputs are old input types and the TV’s CC circuitry functions as normal.

If you have a High Definition TV showing a picture using the _component_ input (Y/Cr/Cb), the TV’s CC circuitry is _disabled_. This is apparently due to the digital CC specs giving the source of the signal (whether it be a HD receiver, DVD player, or DVD recorder) the responsibility to display the captions. My HD receiver has CC circuitry built in and it works. My progressive scan DVD player does not.

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